The television producer and director, who also has an extensive background in music video directing, pitched and sold the idea to televise a CMA Music Festival special on ABC 14 years ago. Country music stars Kelsea Ballerini and Thomas Rhett co-hosted the recent TV special, which aired in August. In addition, Deaton has served as the exec producer of ABC’s CMA Awards for 11 shows and was at the helm of The Billboard Music Awards and CMA Country Christmas.